Rose Law Group Partner and Cannabis Dept. Director Laura Bianchi says cannabis extracts case a big win for Arizona’s medical marijuana industry

By Tim Royan | Cronkite News Marijuana-laced massage oils, vaping products and brownies and other edibles likely will emerge as the future of the multimillion-dollar medical marijuana industry in Arizona, thanks to last month’s key court decision, industry representatives say. Concentrates, or extracts of the active ingredients in marijuana, such as THC and CBD, are now considered legal under an Arizona …

Laura Bianchi, Rose Law Group partner and director of Cannabis department, talks to Phoenix Business Journal about cannabis extract ruling

By Greg Barr | Phoenix Business Journal Medical marijuana patients in the state now can legally possess hashish after the Arizona Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled the extracted resin and oils from marijuana are the same as other parts of the plant. The Court’s 7-0 ruling clarifies the definition of marijuana in the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act that went into …

Marijuana concentrates okay for patients, Arizona Supreme Court rules; Rose Law Group Partner and Cannabis Dept. Director, Laura Bianchi, calls it ‘incredible victory’

By Ray Stern | Phoenix New Times The Arizona medical marijuana community and business industry can finally exhale: The state Supreme Court decided a crucial appeal on Tuesday by siding 7-0 with patients and state voters on marijuana resin extracts. Parties in the case of State of Arizona v. Rodney Christopher Jones received word just after 10 a.m. on Tuesday that Jones …

Laura Bianchi, partner and director of Rose Law Group Cannabis Department, talks with YourValley about newest Peoria Medical Marijuana Dispensary

By Philip Haldiman | YourValley.net A new medical marijuana dispensary — Peoria’s fifth — will be built near the northeast corner of 88th Avenue and Thunderbird Road. The city recently approved the proposal with no opposition, a reflection of the shifted perspective on medical marijuana being sold in local communities. Today 33 states have legalized medical marijuana and about 62 …

By Carol Ann Alaimo | Arizona Daily Star A Tucson native is hoping to turn his hometown into a hot spot for cannabis cultivation by building a massive medical marijuana-growing complex on the city’s southeast side. Construction is underway on the first phase of Tucson Cannabis Campus, a project envisioned as an eventual 440,000-square-foot facility on 16 acres of industrial …

Phoenix City Council kills medical marijuana tax; a ‘victory against bad policy,’ says Rose Law Group land-use & regulatory attorney Thomas F. Galvin

Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents multiple medical-marijuana dispensaries in Phoenix and was hired to help kill the potential tax By Jessica Boehm | Arizona Republic The Phoenix City Council voted unanimously to kill a tax proposal that could have cost medical marijuana dispensaries millions of dollars each year. After backlash from the medical marijuana industry and transparency concerns voiced by council members, Mayor …

Phoenix looks to tax medical-marijuana industry $50 million per year to fund public safety; city singling out industry, says Evan Bolick, Rose Law Group Litigator

By Jessica Boehm | Arizona Republic Phoenix is considering a massive tax on the medical-marijuana industry that could generate $40-50 million per year for the police and fire departments. The tax, which would be charged to companies based on the size of each of their dispensary and cultivation sites, could cost some medical-marijuana distributors more than $1 million per year. It would be …

Phoenix Mayor proposes massive taxes on medical-marijuana dispensaries; Rose Law Group land-use & regulatory attorney Thomas F. Galvin calls the tax ‘arbitrary and capricious’

By Joseph Flaherty | Phoenix New Times The mayor of Phoenix is prepared to levy a significant new tax on medical marijuana businesses that could decimate the city’s dispensaries and raise costs for patients. In a letter to the Phoenix city manager on Thursday, Mayor Thelda Williams proposed an occupational licensing tax on medical-marijuana businesses in order to fund Phoenix’s …

Laura Bianchi, Rose Law Group partner, director Medical Cannabis Department, talks to Marijuana Business Daily about hot market

By Jeff Smith | Marijuana Business Daily Arizona’s medical marijuana market is one of the largest in the nation as well as one of the hottest, with costs to break into the market skyrocketing and investors scouring the state for potential opportunities. Prices have increased because investors see a market where: The amount of medical marijuana sold has more than doubled from …

Maine allows Medical Marijuana business owners to deduct business expenses; Laura Bianchi, partner and director of Rose Law Group Medical Cannabis Department, encouraged by implementation of reasonable legislation

By Mike Daze | Bloomberg Salt Talk Blog Maine made significant amendments to its medical marijuana law, including providing a deduction for medical marijuana-related business expenses otherwise prohibited by federal tax law, when the Maine Legislature voted July 9 to override Gov. Paul LePage’s (R) veto of L.D. 1539. This is the second time the Legislature has overridden LePage’s veto of …